EU organisations prefer venture capital funds as a source of investment. They also believe that outsourcing is a highly effective way of reducing costs; however, some of them have concerns about poor service and low quality output. And they have adopted various security measures to counter terrorists’ activities. Finally, they find videoconferencing as a tool of communication which reduces costs and travel time.

This is the picture that emerges from a study carried out by Frost& Sullivan’s Competitive Benchmarking Services team who evaluated mobile communications and computing products and services in Europe. The 42% of survey respondents are C-Level Executives, 44% vice-presidents, 5% owners; the remaining 10% includes other companies’ representatives. The majority of the companies who participated in this survey are from Israel (17%) and from the UK (15%). The others are from Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, and Italy. Of these 19% have revenues of USD100 million or more and are mainly Information Technology and Telecommunications companies. However, the list also includes organisations from the manufacturing, healthcare, biotechnology/biomedical and consulting sectors.

With this survey Frost & Sullivan’s Competitive Benchmarking Services team has analysed four key aspects of the mobile communications and computing products and services sector: Laptop PCs, Mobile Phones, Smart Phones, and Wireless Service Providers. “Normally, our studies primarily focus on products and services being tested, but we thought it might be interesting to also measure what primarily European-based C-Level Executives think about higher – more global – issues,” says Frost & Sullivan’s Tonya Fowler, Director of Competitive Benchmarking Services. Fowler continues, “And by asking these seemingly non-related questions within our survey, we have a chance to draw further interest into the research, rather than just asking survey respondents to rate this brand over another. It is nice to have a forum – even if it is just a brand perception survey – for people to share their thoughts and opinions about issues that might keep them awake at night.”

Investment. EU organisations prefer venture capital funds as a source of investment. This is considered the best financing option, followed by shareholders’ contributions and private investors through personal networks, while banks and other financial institutes are the least preferred.

Outsourcing. The majority feel that cost reduction is the major advantage in job outsourcing. But they also feel that it has other positive factors, such as adding workforce in other countries; potentially relevant, global exposure, and the opportunity to explore new markets. However, poor service and low quality output is a matter of concern to some organisations.

Security Measures. European organisations have adopted various security measures to counter terrorists’ activities. Data backup, many levels of security in software and hardware, and the decentralisation of data are just some of them.

Video Conferencing. This is considered an extremely useful tool that considerably reduces both costs and travel time. European companies also think of it as an easy way of transferring information and an effective mode of communication. Video conferencing allows face-to-face interaction with clients/business partners without travelling. It is environmentally friendly.

Frost & Sullivan’s panel of CXOs (C-Level Executives) was utilised for this research and will be utilised for other upcoming CXO research. If you would like to be a member of Frost & Sullivan’s Professional Forums, please visit http://www.FrostForum.com. There are many panels in which to qualify beyond Frost & Sullivan’s CXO Panel. As a member of any of Frost & Sullivan’s panels, one can wield influence in the products and services routinely used, as well as glean information that is happening in markets right now.

About Competitive Benchmarking Services

Frost & Sullivan’s Competitive Benchmarking Services is a division of the Customer Research team that conducts independent, non-sponsored research among end-users to evaluate and measure companies that are top performers for their products, processes and services. Specifically, Competitive Benchmarking Services surveys respondents that are deemed experts (i.e., CXOs, Automotive Technicians, Paint Contractors, etc.) in the wide range of industries that Frost & Sullivan supports.

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company’s Growth Partnership Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.